diff --git a/plugins/auth-backend/src/providers/aws-alb/provider.ts b/plugins/auth-backend/src/providers/aws-alb/provider.ts
index 41dc5cf916..a5db2869b5 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-backend/src/providers/aws-alb/provider.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-backend/src/providers/aws-alb/provider.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ const ALB_JWT_HEADER = 'x-amzn-oidc-data';
  */
 type AwsAlbAuthProviderOptions = {
   region: string;
-  issuer: string;
+  issuer?: string;
   identityResolutionCallback: ExperimentalIdentityResolver;
 };
 export const getJWTHeaders = (input: string) => {
@@ -70,10 +70,7 @@ export class AwsAlbAuthProvider implements AuthProviderRouteHandlers {
         const key = await this.getKey(headers.kid);
         const payload = JWT.verify(jwt, key);
 
-        if (
-          this.options.issuer !== '' &&
-          headers.issuer !== this.options.issuer
-        ) {
+        if (this.options.issuer && headers.iss !== this.options.issuer) {
           throw new Error('issuer mismatch on JWT');
         }
 
@@ -116,7 +113,7 @@ export const createAwsAlbProvider = ({
   identityResolver,
 }: AuthProviderFactoryOptions) => {
   const region = config.getString('region');
-  const issuer = config.getString('iss');
+  const issuer = config.getOptionalString('iss');
   if (identityResolver !== undefined) {
     return new AwsAlbAuthProvider(logger, catalogApi, {
       region,